1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display, and more particularly, to a flat panel display using a silicon light-emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Displays using a cathode ray tube (CRT) have excellent display characteristics, but have a problem of a high increase of the volume level with increasing screen size. In this regard, developments and commercial applications of flat panel displays having a small volume and a large screen have rapidly proceeded.
Plasma display panels (PDPs) are one of promising flat panel displays with a large screen. Since the PDPs have good display characteristics, like the CRTs, such as large display capacity, high luminance, high contrast, and wide viewing angle, attention has been paid to the PDPs as flat panel displays capable of replacing the CRTs.
The PDPs are classified into a direct current (DC) type, an alternative current (AC) type, and a hybrid type according to the structures of electrodes.
While electrodes are directly exposed to plasma in DC-type PDPs, electrodes are indirectly exposed to plasma through a dielectric layer in AC-type PDPs.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an example of conventional AC-type PDPs.
Referring to FIG. 1, a PDP comprises a rear substrate 6, address electrodes 7 formed to a predetermined pattern on the rear substrate 6, and a first dielectric layer 5 formed on the rear substrate 6 to cover the address electrodes 7.
The address electrodes 7 have a predetermined width and are formed in a stripe pattern parallel to each other.
When the rear substrate 6 is sealed together with a transparent front substrate 1 using a sealing material (not shown) in a state where the two substrates are separated from each other by about 0.1 mm gap, a discharge space is defined between the two substrates. A plurality of sustain electrodes consisting of a pair of a first electrode 2a and a second electrode 2b that are perpendicular to the address electrodes 7 are formed on an inner surface of the front substrate 1. The first and second electrodes 2a and 2b are made of a transparent material. Bus electrodes 2c are formed to a narrow width on the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b to decrease line resistance.
Intersection of the address electrodes 7 and the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b creates an effective display area.
A second dielectric layer 4 is formed on an inner surface of the front substrate 1 to cover the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b. Partition walls 8 are formed between the rear substrate 6 and the front substrate 1 to separate discharge cells. The second dielectric layer 4 has a protection film 3 made of MgO on a surface thereof to discharge secondary electrons. Fluorescent layers 9 are formed in the discharge cells separated by the partition walls 8.
The discharge cells are filled with a discharge gas such as a mixture of neon (Ne) gas, xenon (Xe) gas, and argon (Ar) gas.
When a predetermined pulse voltage is applied to the address electrodes 7 and one electrode of the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b in a PDP as described above, address discharge occurs, which leads to generation of wall charge on the inner surfaces of the discharge cells. The generated wall charge is collected on the surfaces of the discharge cells. In this state, when the same voltage is applied to the other electrode of the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b, the discharge of the discharge gas occurs between the first and second electrodes 2a and 2b, thereby generating ultraviolet light. The generated ultraviolet light excites the fluorescent substance of the fluorescent layers, which leads to visible light emission.
However, the PDP as described above has problems in that various constitutional elements and processes for gas charge and electric discharge are necessary, the structure and manufacture process of the PDP are complicated, and a production cost is high. In addition, high power consumption is necessary, image diffusion occurs, thereby lowering resolution, and a response time is slow.